Monday
This marked 18 weeks exactly until the Boston Marathon. Feeling excited, I enjoyed the first run from the P and D (Pfitzingerand Douglas) plan. A 5 mile recovery run averaging 9:15 min mile pace. The recovery was much needed after the Christmas Cracker 10k race the day before - lots of running on sand (3rd lady 40:30).
In the evening, I had a PT session with Jules Taylor who is based at Oakfield PT in Clifton. He has been training me for over a year now and I've seen vast improvements during that time. Most importantly, since I started having the PT sessions, I've been injury free. I'm feeling stronger than ever and Jules has had a huge role to play in that.
Today's PT session involved:
30 of 2 different exercises followed by 500m on the rower x about 6 or 7...I lost count! Some of the exercises included: squats, press ups, dumbbell presses, jumping lunges, burpees on a bench and others that I've clearly blanked from my mind!
To finished, I did 50 squats with 30kg of weight on the bar. A great workout. I left feeling strong and positive for the week ahead.
Tuesday
Today was to be a double day. Beginning with a rather sleepy 3 mile recovery run. Average pace of 9:54mm showed that I had clearly worked hard in the PT session the day before and my legs were feeling it a little.
The evening was due to be a speedwork session. My good friend Woody was leading the GWR club speedwork session so I decided it would be good to head down there and support him. John http://gingerbeardedrunningman.blogspot.co.uk/ managed to convince me that running to the session would be a good idea (4.5 miles there and 4.5 miles back).
The run there felt good. I averaged 7:24 mm pace and was looking forward to some intervals. It took a while for them to come however as Woody decided it would be a good idea to do lots of squats, lunges, burpees and sumo jumps (don't ask!). By the time the interval session started, I was already feeling rather tired but gave the session a good go (snapping at Paul Mason's heels!). 6 intervals of 1/2 mile each and I averaged 6:24 mm pace. Not as quick as I would have done on the track but the Portway was windy and rather more hilly than the track! The session finished and I was tired. Running home was hard work 4 miles at 9:44 mm pace. My legs were seriously tight so I booked an emergency sports massage for the following day.
Wednesday
As we had the GWR club Christmas lights run and quiz in the evening, me and John decided to do our long run in the morning instead (BIG MISTAKE!). The plan was to do 13 miles. This was quickly reduced to 10 miles and once we had started running I knew that this was going to be a very long 10 miles. The route was hilly and my legs were shot. I dragged myself round and we decided to called it a day at 9 miles. Reaching the entrance to my building, my watch said 8.9; normally my OCD would kick in and I'd run up and down a bit until I had a more satisfying round number. Clearly I was truly shattered, I stopped my watch and sat down to wait for John (who was either less tired or more OCD) to round up his.
School was hard work today (as any teacher who has experienced the last week of term will tell you!). I felt emotionally and physically shattered. To make matters worse, I had developed some serious stomach pains. My stomach was bloated and swollen and I realized that I had clearly eaten some gluten by mistake and my body was reacting badly.
In the evening, I
That evening was the GWR Christmas lights run (dressed as part of an advent calendar). This meant a slow run as a group which is exactly what my legs needed. 3.8 miles at 11:06 pace. After the run, was the annual quiz which, for the first time, I was hosting. Thankfully, the quiz went well and, most importantly, we raised lots of money for the Arthur Dagger Memorial fund - a charity which supports new, up and coming athletes.
Stomach wise I still wasn't feeling good and consequently hadn't eaten much all day. I hadn't felt like this since I started the gluten free diet so was a little bit worried about how long it would last. Decided then to take Thursday as a complete rest day to let my legs and stomach settle down.
Friday
Hoping I was better, the alarm was set and we were up and out of the door ready for 10 miles at 8mm pace. The second I started, I knew it wasn't good news. My stomach was painful and I was close to being sick on a number of occasions. Not wanting to impact John's run, I planned to finish the first lap of the Harbourside and slip away allowing him to continue. Of course John wouldn't hear of it; he chose to cut his run short to take care of me. 3 miles at 8:59 pace.
I realized that this stomach issue wasn't going to sort itself out so I went to the chemist and collected an array of drugs which I hoped would relieve me enough that I could at least continue with training.
Saturday
I decided to do a 3 mile recovery run in the evening to test everything out. Stomach not brilliant but improving. Legs however felt amazing! Oh the miracle cure that is REST! Springy, bouncy and happy - looking forward to tackling 17miles the following day.
Sunday
I woke up feeling good. My stomach wasn't 100% but my legs felt brilliant. Me and John put on our matching Boston Qualifiers T-shirts (we are so cool!). We ran up to the water tower on the Downs where we met Andy, Declan, Rob and Dan (who is following this plan as well while training to break 3:05 at Manchester) as well as Marcus (otherwise affectionately known as Dad or the Maestro - who is also following this plan and coming to Boston with us although, sadly, he wasn't wearing his matching T-shirt!).
17 miles at an average of 8:50 pace - I was happy with that. The first 13 felt fab (I've clearly not done many runs further than a half marathon this year!) after that my legs started to feel tired and I slowed a little. Nevertheless, I finished feeling a sense of achievement at having completed the first long run of the Boston plan.
Lessons learned -
1) I need to be even more careful with what I eat. I cannot be taking risks with my diet during marathon training.
2) I need to stick to the plan and not do daft things like run 4 miles to and from a speedwork session.
Total mileage for the week: 56.1 miles
"I need to stick to the plan" - don't forget this!
ReplyDeleteI'm getting well famous. Both you and GBRM name checking me. Gonna have to start going out on Sunday too.. :-(
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